Pop Goes The Church Website is Live

Tim Steven's new book "Pop Goes The Church" is apparently out for pre-release ordering. At least I would imagine that since I have a copy on my desk. I haven't read it yet but I know a lot of people who have and loved it. I'm in the process of reading it, but I've finished the forward and the acknowledgements (I read slower than a second grader in the dark). At any rate, I had a chance to work on the website for the book which you can visit over at popgoesthechurch.com, and it was a blast. There was a fun photo shoot over at beautiful local catholic church, and some nifty design time with Daryl McMullen. I only had a very small role in the thing. Daryl did all the hard work, but I was just honored to have the opportunity to help out. Anyway, check out the book everyone. You can order it online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, borders.com, or probably even at wiredchurches.com.

The easter bunny is dead...literally

So one of our student's families donated a three foot chocolate bunny to the student ministry at Granger. We decided that the best thing to do is share it with our students. In order to do that, we had to cut it up. So we figured...why not publicly decapitate the thing. It's not any kind of faith statement or condemnation of social rituals, we just wanted to whack some chocolate. DC grabbed the Massai sword off John Keim's office wall and went to town. And every student is getting a piece as they walk out tonight.

Like father, like son

Tonight in Canada, NHL Hall of Fame Goalie and Canadian Junior League coach Patrick Roy was suspended for five games after allegedly (there's video evidence) yelling to his son and team goalie Jonathan Roy to head to the other end and fight the opposing goalie during an all out brawl tuesday night. Jonathan was suspended for seven, not only for fighting, but for giving a two handed one figure salute the opposing fans. Full story here. Some of you may remember the classic image of Patrick Roy sharing blows with Detriot goalie Chris Osgood in the 1997-1998 playoffs. If I were more pastory...*insert pastor type thought here*...but that one kinda speaks for itself. Sorry if the video is kinda graphic, and no, there is no audio in the video. This is why I'm embarrassed to be a hockey fan sometimes.

Bucket List Tour Announcement Vid's

I'm not really sure this is interesting to anyone, but while we were gone on our trip, we sent back some announcement videos for our kids to see that we were still alive. They were generally identically in some spots between Oasis and Lifeline, but if you were at all interested, here's the first four. I'll get the other two up tomorrow.

MU Glee Club 100th Anniversary

A few weekends ago, I have the chance to shoot down to Miami University (the Ohio version) for one of three 100th Anniversary Concerts for the Men's Glee Club there. My mom, dad, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, second cousins, grandparents, and I'm sure some other odd and assorted relatives went to Miami and my brother and my dad in particular were all members of the Glee Club. In this particular concert, there was even a moment where the club was accompanied by my brother Brian playing the piano, my brother Steve playing the bass, and my Dad playing the drums. It was a pretty cool sight.

The Bucket List Tour...in photo's

So there's a whole bunch of stories about the trip that didn't get told already, and I'm an image oriented guy so, we'll do a little photo album of all the fun.

We were in a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma at about midnight trying to find a media card for our camera when I had a run in with these folks on their motorized carts.  Let's just say...they drank a little bit too much of something and the filters were gone, especially the lady on the right.  She started following me around the store asking if I wanted a ride.  After I repeatedly said 'no thank you' she decided to press the issue and she added some choice names for me which...weren't very kind--she needed a do over.  At any rate, DC and then John showed up and joined in the fun.  And yes, DC eventually had a ride to satiate them.  
When we were in downtown Dallas we were having a really hard time finding a large parking lot for the RV, so I actually had to parallel park the thing.  The photo is a bad angle but trust me, there was a car in front the RV and curb behind it.  Now I can scratch off "parallel park a bread truck" for my to-do list.
Matt Melton...boy it was good to see him.  He used to live up here and played with all the boys at Granger.  Now he's living in Dallas working as a bass player at a club called 'Cowboys' and he also plays bass at Fellowship Church's downtown Dallas campus.  He's fun...we went for a walk...my shoes got muddy...he had no furniture in his new apartment...snorkel.
Good 'ole Chris Prater recommended an open pit barbecue place that was just a bit down the road from Fellowship.  It was life alteringly good.  If you'll notice my half chicken has a bit of a yellow glow (that's because they dipped it in melted butter before they gave it to me).  I can hear my heart attack encroaching.  
The Mix had an amazing student band, especially this young lady who had some AMAZING pipes.  I never say this, but I was blessed when I heard her sing.  Dang!  The nice thing about that is, I think we've got some girls in our ministry who have the capabilities to be just as good.  Get ready!
We swung down to Austin and had lunch with DC's family.  They were awesome...and his brother Dante is hilarious.  
While we were waiting for our jeep tour in Sedona, AZ (more pictures later) I got to take in some nature-in-progress.  I appreciate it even more so now that I'm home and there's still snow on the ground.  Bring on the green up here...now!
At HSM in California, we had the privilege to hear Doug Fields speak.  We got to talk with him a little bit and were even invited to lunch on wednesday (which was problematic considering we left california on monday).  
Santa Monica pier at sunset was just nice.  That's all I got on that one.
We not only found the physical embodiment of Tom Foolery (Tiki Tom), but he wrought havoc on several places including the Hoover Dam.  
Wednesday we got lucky on a little pull off spot somewhere in Colorado.  The was a stream that fed into the Colorado river and there was a little path alongside it that had some climbable mountains on either side.  We did a little filming and what seemed like a lot of climbing.  The view was fantastic.
Thursday we got to spend some time and chill in the afternoon so I found me a rock in the middle of the river and pop'd a squat.  Nothing like spending some time with God in the middle of some rapids right?
Luke got us tickets to Notre Dame vs. George Mason at the Pepsi Center in Denver.  Not only were they great seats, but Notre Dame put a beat down on the Patriots.  Wish them luck this afternoon versus Washington State.  

The Bucket List Tour - Denver

The tour has momentarily stopped in Denver. Why, do you ask? Well I was talking to my friend Luke and apparently their first round game for the NCAA tournament is here in Denver tomorrow night. He offered me tickets for the three of us so why wouldn't he hang around for the game. So tomorrow night at 7:50, we'll be sitting court side for Notre Dame vs. George Mason for a little first round tournament action. He said if they win tomorrow night that we'd have to stay for their game on saturday...but...since the RV has to be back on saturday in South Bend, I don't think that's going to happen. Tomorrow night after the game we begin the long haul back home, and I'll be excited to be back. This has been a great trip, and I can't wait to tell you all the rest of the details. I have the big long post about the last few days complete with pictures coming but it happens to be saved on my laptop and I'm on Luke's right now. Just wait a bit longer, the pictures are great. We did a little hiking today outside Denver and I'm really excited to see how the pictures turned out. So goodbye for now, we'll see you all soon!

I swear I'm still alive

Hey all, we're on the road between Las Vegas and Denver right now which is a bit of a haul. While I was sitting in the back I figured I could pull out my phone and let you all know where we are. We've been really busy since last thursday, and as soon as I get some wifi I'll fill you in on all the details. But I can at least let you know the Saddleback was a great experience and now its tim to start the long trip back. We popped into Vegas to sleep and maybe do a bit of shopping at a rather large Bass Pro Shop (no, I didn't buy anything. We ran out to the Hoover Dam for some sight seeing, and then we hit the road. So be expecting a large update. That's all for now!

The Bucket List Tour - Day Five

Please forgive my excitement and excuse my rubbing it in but it's WARM AND SUNNY down here. For some reason, this past winter in South Bend was pretty hard on me. So when we got out of the RV down here and it was in the 70's and sunny, it brought a smile to my face. There's bud's on the trees, people are wearing shorts, and I'm not freezing. We got a chance to walk around downtown Austin today which is in the midst of the South by Southwest Music Festival. I was actually supposed to come down here for the Interactive Festival last weekend with Daryl and Steve, but I wasn't able to make it because of a wedding. Luckily, as fate would have it, I made my way down here anyway. I'm guessing the interactive festival was a bit more for the inner nerd in me, but this week is all about the music side of life. And there are all kinds of different people out and about on the streets of Austin. I used to go to a lot of concerts and festivals like this. That kind of stuff has tapered off as I've gotten older. These are my kind of people...maybe minus a few tatooes and piercings.. I got a chance to snap a couple of pictures. They're not at all that artistic, I'm just trying to capture what's going on down here for everyone to see. Enjoy!

the Bucket list tour - Day Four

Well let's just say Dallas was a blast. First off, I got to spend some time with my friend Matt Melton who I haven't seen in quite a long time. We got into Dallas on tuesday night and we didn't need to be any where so I gave Matt a call. Matt also lives with Justin Krause who some of you probably remember played drums at GCC until he moved to Dallas last november. Matt is a bass player at Fellowship's Dallas campus and he says he loves it there. We actually got to spend some time with him on his first night in his new apartment in a really cool district of downtown Dallas. There will be pictures to come.Wednesday night we went to "The Mix" like I said. It was amazing...seriously. Chris Prater was incredibly gracious and spent A LOT of time with us on wednesday. Gave us a tour of their facility, offices, tutoring space, and directed us towards the best open pit BBQ joint I've ever been to. Their program had a lot of energy. They kicked the night off with a student who did a bit of rapping and basically served as a Hype Man. Great student worship team, and then bang...we were into the message. During the message, John and I headed over to the main building to see what the Jr High students were doing. They were having a purity ring ceremony with parents so, not really a typical night for them. However, they did break into their small groups in every nook and cranny of the church. Hmm...I feel like I've seen that model before. Anyway, after the night was over, Chris spent maybe 2 hours with us just talking and downloading the night and casting some vision for student ministry at Fellowship, at GCC and around the country. I think we've made a new friend.
After all was said and done, we packed into the Mega-Bus once more and headed down to Austin for some more fun and games.

Tour quickie

Hey all...a quick note. We just got done with "The Mix" at Fellowship church. I want you all to know had an amazing time with Chris Prater and his team. I'm blogging from my iphone so I'll let you know more when we stop and get a connection for our laptops. Miss you all!

The Bucket List Tour - Day Three

Tuesday we were at Oneighty which is Church On The Move's student ministry program. They have an AMAZING facility. They also had an AMAZING 19 year old intern who was very hospitable and took us around they. They had tons of video games, cool design, coffee bars, water bars, glass enclosed basketball courts, iPod stations, iMac stations, and all kinds of other fun stuff. Some of the stuff was a bit outdated (hello first generation iPods) but they're in the process of updating and making things even better. We weren't able to meet with any of their full time staff unfortunately, but Tori, the intern, was really great and answered all of our questions. Big thanks to DC for some of the pictures, I was manning the video camera for most of the day. We're in Dallas right now meeting with some of the churches from The Mix which is Fellowship Church's Student Ministry. Tonight should be fun.

The Bucket List Tour - Day Two

So we're sitting in the old Mega-Bus somewhere on the Tulsa campus of The University of Oklahoma. We just saw the movie 10,000 BC which I will give a rating of "eeh." All the cool stuff in the movie you pretty much see during the previews so, watch the trailer, you've seen it all. But it was good for some time with the team.
Today was mostly a driving day. We took off from St. Louis around lunch time and headed for Tulsa. I must have slept through the only nice scenery of the day, because I just saw a lot of flatness. But it was great to sit shotgun with DC and just unload about the last year or so of ministry together. I haven't really gotten to know John or DC super well since I've been at Granger, so this week will be great of me to really get to know these guys. Not a whole lot to say about today other than it was relaxing. Tomorrow morning we'll be at Church on the Move to see how their do what they do. I'm hoping to be wow'd yet again. I've been told there's a pretty stinkin awesome youth facility there and I can't wait to see it. Maybe they'll let me take pictures...cross your fingers. For now you'll have to settle for the picture of us in front of the Mega-Bus and lovely Willow Creek in the background, and maybe a little bit of life in the bus.

Bucket List Tour - Day One

So we hopped in the old “Mega-Bus” as I’ve decided to call it, and hit the road. We got in this bad mama-jama at about two o’clock in the morning Sunday morning to head to Chicago so I made the obligatory “we just left” small talk in the Mega-Bus shotgun seat for about fifteen minutes, then I found my resting place and checked out until the morning. I woke up in a very snowy and cold South Barrington, IL. And I was in the parking lot of Willow Creek Community Church. That was our first stop on the trip. I had visited there once when I was a freshman in college. Chad Meister loaded us up on bus and took us for a tour. They have built a new auditorium since I was last, and all I remember about the last time I was there was thinking ‘man this place is enormous.’ Well that auditorium that I thought was enormous was the room that their Sr. High meets in now. During my first visit there, I was a bit fresh off the farm, if you will. I went to a church of 75 my whole life. Now that I’ve been working at Granger, my breath stayed in my lungs when I walked into the youth room that was about the size our our auditorium…minus the balconies that weren’t in use.

Student Impact was great. Let me just say, from my experience in youth ministry, that if someone comes up to me 10 minutes before a gathering and says “we’re from out of town checking things out” I’ll be the first one to say, “I’d love to chat but I’ve got a million things to check on before we start so…I’ll see you at 10:30 when I’m done.” Not so with Ruth Durband, who is Student Impact’s Operations Director. She smiled, shook our hands and gave us an entire run down of their system, and even had a little bit of time to answer some of our questions. Now I’m sure that, Willow being the place that it is, she’s probably very used to that kind of thing happening. But it doesn’t mean she didn’t have work to do. And I could see in her head that a million things were going on in there while we were chatting. So we let her be and headed down to the Jr. High room/gym to see what was the happy-hap’s down there. They decided to do business ‘theater-in-the-round’ style this weekend, but according to…umm that guy we talked to, they don’t always do it that way.

We headed back to the Sr. High room and they were off and running, I’m guessing we missed family time. But the worship band was going to work, and boy they were daggum good for some high school kids. They had an adult worship leader but the rest of the band looked like they couldn’t have been older than 16. They busted out a two song set, and then times two pastors got up and did some more introduction. Apparently they were trying something new this week, and they were showing a Rob Bell video of his “Honey” or “Dust of Your Rabbi” message. That was actually nice because I didn’t feel bad about not paying attention to the message as I was scanning the room. They had a very relaxed feel. Students were coming in and out, leaders were chillin in the back and on the end of the rows. Some folks were handing out bibles and honey sticks (message illustration). The kids were broken up by which area of the city they were from and there was a pretty sweet animation in the welcome area to illustrate that. I wish I could show you some photo’s and/or video of that stuff, but unfortunately, photography was a big no no, as I was politely told twice to stop…oops.
We ventured around the campus a little bit more and we made our way into their new auditorium and that would be the moment when I lost my breath again. That place is not only huge but it’s breath taking. It’s gorgeous with very comfortable seats, screens for all to enjoy, I’m guessing the stage had a full fly system, there were two balconies, a multi-tiered tech area (not to mention the tech wonderland that I hear exists in the basement), and it came complete with Bill Hybels on stage. He was having a question and answer session in there with I would guess around 2,000 leaders. Some of those leaders seemed to be very concerned about…something. I don’t really know what because I walked in late. But let me just say, Bill Hybels is the man. Not only is he a brilliant communicator and great leader, but he’s also a very gracious man and a patient man. He had to cut the Q&A at a certain point because they were coming into to build the set for Easter. But he personally sat on the end of the stage, let people line up, and he stayed and answered all of their questions. Trust me, there was a long line.

I loved my time at Willow Creek. I wish I could’ve probed around a bit more and gone behind the scenes a little bit, but maybe that’s for another day. We downed some Italian food for dinner then packed into the Mega-Bus to head for St. Louis which is where I leave you for now. Hope everyone is doing well, and I’ll check back with you shortly. Be praying for the Mega-Bus-Boys, especially that we get some decent nutrition, and that we sleep when we need to sleep, laugh when we need to laugh, pull away when we need to, and can follow where God wants us to go on this Journey. Peace!

Up's

So Kenny George is this big old dude that plays for UNC Ashville...and by big old dude I mean he's somewhere between 7'7" and 7'9" tall. John Keim pointed him out to me, so I was watching some videos of his, basically consisting of him reaching up and droppin the ball in the basket, and more clips of him just swatting the ball out of peoples hands. But I was even more amazed by this clip of how Tyler Hansbrough decided to deal with him. This has to be embarrasing, and you can tell it is by the way he hangs his head. Tyler Hansbrough is for real. Have fun playing with him next year Tyler.

I love rediscovering

I feel a little stagnant in my music choices lately, and I've got a ton of great new music. I don't know, I guess I'm not in the mood to consume any more...imagine that, how un-american. So I set out to find something that I've had that I under appreciated. In my scrolling, I stopped on Matt Redman's last album called "Beautiful News." Man, is that ever a good c.d. and I never gave it any credit. Take some time, enjoy it.

Time Machine works

When I design things that need to be a certain format, like lets say, a flyer. I usually just open the last flyer I made, and edit away, then save it as something else. Well sometimes I forget to hit the old SAVE AS instead of SAVE and I lose the old copy of what I was working on. Well I did that this morning, so I decided to see if Time Machine actually worked. I've been backing up copies of things for years, but I've never really needed it much, and the times I did need it, it wasn't backed up. Well I had set up mac's new software Time Machine when I bought my Mac Pro. I went digging around, and sure enough I found what I was looking for, very quickly from a backup that was created 20 minutes before my error. And there was another back up from an hour before that, and an hour before that...you get the point. Brilliant.